Man, Moon and Owl
by themergitonian
Summary: Thought to have been killed by Zeus, Percy Jackson mysteriously reappears. What happens when his bold actions catch the eye of a certain moon goddess and one of wisdom's daughters. AU. Story starts in The Titan's Curse.
1. Captured

**Disclaimer: I don't of PJO or anything else I knowingly or unknowingly reference.**

**Hi! This is something I started writing and decided to make into chaptered story. I will not be updating this that often since I am also writing Revenge but hopefully I can add a new chapter every week or so to this.**** The part after the line break takes place at the beginning of The Titan's Curse. It's definitely an AU story.  
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**Enjoy, R&R!**

- Captured -

The wind blew in dark grey storm clouds from all corners of the Earth. Sally Jackson drove onwards despite this as her car was pelted by hail and debris that whipped through the air. She knew this was no ordinary storm, called upon by Zeus himself with the intent of killing the young child beside her. The fury of Zeus brought to bear on her child left little chance for his survival. She knew that the sea would protect him once she got him there for he was a son of Poseidon and the sea would accept it's own.

She herself could not follow but she knew that Poseidon would take good care of the child. In the brief time Percy had been with her she had been happy. His youthful innocent, his father eyes, her child was beautiful but it was her responsibility to let him go; she could not protect him from what was coming.

With that in mind Sally Jackson sped faster towards the sea and her child's only hope when lightning struck, vaporizing everything within a kilometer.

- 13 Years Later -

Thalia, Annabeth and Grover faces the small army of monsters in front of them with demigods they had come to protect guarded behind them.

The young warriors held their weapons out defensively. Even against insurmountable odds, the demigods wouldn't back down from a fight. These sorts of scenarios were exactly what they trained for. Admittedly, the odds were very rarely this unfair but that's what most sensible demigods came to expect.

The first monster, a manticore, charged at them shooting poisonous spikes at the which Thalia blocked using her shield, Aegis (not the original, of course). As he got closer Annabeth slashed at it with her knife while Grover hit branch, both had little effect. Thalia stabbed it with her spear causing it to reel back giving the demigods time to recover.

Annabeth got right back into fighting the manticore again, hacking at it mercilessly with her knife but once the powerful monster recovered, it grabbed Annabeth in it's clutches.

"Surrender the death brats," The manticore demanded. "Or the girl dies."

Thalia assessed the situation, seeing as she was the leader of this mission. She couldn't let Annabeth get killed but neither could she hand over the demigods, who had an aura powerful enough that even she could sense.

"Ve-" She started to say but was cut off my the manticore wailing in agony. She saw an arrow sticking out of its chest. The monster let go of Annabeth and turned to face where the arrow had come from.

"Direct interference! It's against the Ancient Laws!" The manticore yelled at the woods.

Several youth girls, all close to 10 to 14 year of age stepped out from the woods, silver bows glinting in the moonlight. One of them, clearly the leader, spoke up. "We did not fire at you." She said. While her appearance looked to be that of a twelve year old girl, her tone left no room for negotiation, clearly having much authority.

"Then who did?" The manticore questioned. Just as he completed his sentence it was punctuated by the twang of a bowstring and the hiss of arrows flying through the air. The hunters quickly turned to where the noise had come from only to miss the arrows slamming into their targets. One arrow embedded itself in the manticore's forehead, killing it instantly, while the other 4 arrows hit the monsters closest to the demigods.

In the commotion that ensued, no one notice flash of green that darted from the forest to in front of the demigods. As the monsters surged forward, the green clad archer simple stood where he was and when they got close enough, stomped the ground hard sending a powerful shockwave through the ground, knocking monsters and demigods off their feet. Only the hunters, being as nimble as they are, stayed standing and used their advantage to open fire on the beasts per the auburn-haired girl's orders.

The monsters around the demigods, who had now found their footing again, started turning spontaneously into golden dust and the figure that had stood before them had vanished.

Thalia ran over to where Annabeth lay and have her some Ambrosia to eat while the younger demigods who had been forgotten in the battle trailed her like a shadow.

Soon, all that remained of the monster army was a light dusting of golden powder that covered the battlefield. The hunters didn't lower their bows though, instead pointing them at a different target, the green warrior, who now that he was not moving, looked to be about the same age as everyone else in the clearing.

He tapped the tip of his sword which then shrank into a pen. The bow he had been supposedly using was not on him though a quiver hung from his back.

He flipped back the hood of his cloak and smiled. "Hello. I'm Percy Jackson." He said to the hunters. They girls remained unaffected by him and kept pointing their bows at him.

"Come on, there's no need for weapons anymore." He said casually waving his hand as he talked. In an instant, the hunters bow fell to the ground, startling the hunters.

One girl still held her bow in hand, the leader of the group.

"What is your purpose here?" She asked while the hunters around her picked up their fallen weapons, mystified as to why they had dropped them.

"I'm here to protect my cousins." He said pointing to the demigod sibling nearby Thalia and Annabeth.

"Cousins?" Artemis asked. "Who is their godly parent?"

"You can't tell? They're clearly children of Hades." Percy said letting the implications of what he said sink in.

"Wait, that means you must also be a child of the Big Three!" Thalia said, beating Artemis to the punch. Percy simply stood there, unfazed by her exclamation.

"Who are you?" Artemis asked again, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Percy either didn't notice this or wasn't worried by her expression because he answer in the laid back voice he had been using the whole time.

"I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

Thunder rumbled and the earth trembled minutely.

Artemis looked at him with even greater disdain bringing her bow back to a full draw. "You're going to be coming with me to Olympus _boy."_ She said marking the last word with venom.

"No, I'm not going to Olympus yet." He said.

Thalia gasped, this boy who couldn't be much older than her, was standing up to a goddess? And not just any goddess but _Artemis_? He must be crazy but she would admit that in that moment, she looked up at him just a little bit. Then there was the fact that he was her cousin which made her a little sad that he was going to die. He said that the di Angelos were children of Hades which made her cousins with them as well.

Artemis' reaction was similar to Thalia's, except without the gasp. She was dumbfounded that anyone would be stupid enough to insult her like that and the complete disregard was baffling. She thought about turning into a jackalope but decided he had actually done quite a bit to help them so she would kill him quickly instead.

She nocked an arrow and shot it at Percy in under a second. To everyone around it looked as though the two had been standing apart and then an arrow had appeared out of nowhere heading towards Percy.

Percy maintained eye contact with Artemis even after she had shot him, completely ignoring the arrow speeding towards his heart and without looking, he caught the arrow and sent it flying into the sky. The hunters and demigods alike watched in awe at the skill he had displayed, even Artemis grudgingly admitted he had talent but what they felt then was nothing compared to when the arrow Percy deflected came spinning down and landed neatly in his quiver.

Zoe, who had been watching the whole thing was speechless. She had never seen any mortal or demigod display that level of skill. Even Apollo would had difficulty doing that but the boy in front of her acted like it was nothing, he even kept talking to Artemis.

"I'm sorry I can't come with you." He said sincerely, not that Artemis cared. "I really do have my reasons though."

Artemis paid him no heed as she rushed at him with her silver hunting knives drawn. She slashed trying to cleave him from shoulder to hip but he merely stepped in as she was approaching him and used his bare hand to send the knife in her left hand spinning away. She tried to stab him in the stomach with her other knife but he caught her wrist and used his knee to knock the knife out of her hands. He instantly released her and bowed.

"I'm sorry I had to attack you Lady Artemis." He said.

"You're sorry? You're sorry! For attacking me! I attacked you! And don't apologise for that! If you're sorry then you would have come to Olympus! The gods summoned for you and if there was any decency in you, you would have come willingly! It's an honour to be summoned by the gods!" Artemis yelled at him letting her pent up frustration break like rushing water from a dam. She punched him in the stomach and kicked Percy sending him sprawling on his back.

Only then did she see the black shafted arrow that protrude through his chest, shoved through his body when she had kicked him and only then did she see the knife he had grabbed and thrown embedded in a monster that used to be concealed in the forest.

She realized that her punch had never hit Percy and from where the arrow was in his chest, she realized that had he not thrown himself in front of her it would have struck her in her heart. A demigod, willing to die for an immortal, yet unwilling to go to Olympus.

In a moment, all hell broke loose, the three Furies burst from the trees and attacked Artemis. She instinctively reached for her hunting knives which had returned to their sheaths and drew them, ready to defend herself while her hunters, bows in hand, had let loose arrows into the monster hoard that followed the Furies. "The boy!" One of the Furies hissed. "Get the boy!"

Artemis was too preoccupied to hear her as she fought 8 cyclopes at once, all armed to the teeth with Stygian Iron weapons which were very rare. She killed 3 of them and watched their weapons disappear with them as they turned into dust proceeding to fight off the other 5. Her hunters and the demigods had rushed in to help her at close range drawing their own hunting knives and spear respectively.

As quickly as they came, the monster retreated into the woods. Artemis dared not pursue them for her hunters had suffered serious injury. As she wondered as to what would have prompted such a spontaneous attack and how the cyclopes she fought had gotten their hands on Stygian Iron she looked around the battlefield and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then it struck her, where was Percy? She looked again and then ordered the hunters who weren't injured to spread out and look for him. Thalia and Annabeth had worried looks, Annabeth in particular, as he had saved her life. Artemis realized he had saved her life as well. Even after she shot at him and tried to gut him with a knife he had gone, apologized and then taken an arrow meant for her. She knew he was no fool and still put his own life on the line, even when she would have eventually regenerated.

Zoe reported back to her. "We found no trace of the boy my Lady. The monsters must have taken him." Her lieutenant said. Artemis knew that Zoe had gained a respect for the boy in the brief time she had seen him and that she felt at least partially responsible for him being taken. Artemis felt a bit guilt herself; she had only wanted to bring him to Olympus, it wasn't worth getting into a fight over as she didn't have actually orders to bring him to Olympus and now he was probably going to be tortured and eventually killed after saving her own life. In fact, Artemis actually felt incredibly responsible and knew Percy had treated her with respect and probably had good reasons for resisting her demand for him to come to Olympus.

Annabeth was tearing up after hearing Zoe's report. A report that someone who she had not known an hour ago had gone missing yet she still felt immensely sad. Percy had saved her life and the lives of almost everyone here with his actions.

Artemis was mulling over what to do and after making her decision, she went outside to inform her hunters. "Hunters, we will be going to Camp Half-Blood for a while. These recent events have left me needing to visit Olympus and it is dangerous to stay here by yourselves. Camp Half-Blood will be your home for the next few days."

"My lady, we aren't going with Apollo, are we?" Zoe said.

Artemis grimaced. "Unfortunately." She said and a simultaneous groan came from all the hunters.

The group waited as the dawn came and a minute later, Apollo stepped out of his car which he had parked in the clearing.

"All aboard!" He said with a gleeful grin.

Artemis pulled him aside while her hunters and the demigods they had helped rescue entered Apollo's car in bus mode. "Apollo, no flirting with my hunters. No helping them, no talking to them and absolutely no calling the sweetheart." She said icily.

"Sure thing little sis, drive and don't socialize... with the hunters." He said not losing his cheerful attitude.

"I'll meet them at Camp Half-Blood after I've spoken with father."

Apollo suddenly turned serious. "What did you see?" He said now taking in that something big might have happened.

"A boy." She said.

"Has my little sister found love at last?" Apollo said, unable to resist a jab at Artemis' romantic life.

"Nothing of the sort. He is powerful, said he was a son of Poseidon. He defeated close to 200 monsters single handedly." Artemis said excluding the part where she had lost to him in their fight. "And he saved my life which led to him being captured."

Apollo didn't say anything, the thought of joking not even crossing his mind anymore. This was really big. If his sister thought this demigod was powerful, he really was powerful. Artemis wasn't the type to hand out idle compliments.

"Ok Artemis." He said at last. "I'll get the hunters to Camp Half-Blood, you take care of what you need to on Olympus."

Artemis thanked him before disappearing in a flash. He boarded his bus and all the conversations that were going on instantly stopped.

"Oh, don't be like that." He said, his cheery demeanour back as if it never left. "Next stop, Long Island."

He sat in the driver's seat and before starting the engines he said. "I feel a haiku coming!"

The hunters groaned.

- Close -

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	2. Campers for the Win!

**Disclaimer: No, I haven't gotten PJO since the last time I told you I didn't own it.**

**Hello! Here's another chapter, this is about as regularly as I'll be able to update this story so I'm sorry for neglecting it in advance. I suck at prophecy writing so please forgive me but I really did have to change it.**

**Enjoy, R&R!**

- Campers for the Win! -

Artemis appeared with a flash in front of her throne on Olympus. "Father, Poseidon, we need to talk." She said even though there was no one else in the throne room. She knew that her uncle and father could hear her and she waited patiently while they flashed in, first Poseidon, then Zeus.

When everyone was seated in their respective thrones Zeus spoke up. "Why have you called us here Artemis?" He said and Poseidon nodded in agreement. Artemis was more than a bit worried at what their reactions would be to what she was about to say, Perseus had been a delicate matter between them.

"We need to talk about a demigod I encountered today." She said. "A demigod son of Poseidon."

"What!" Zeus roared. "You broke the oath again!"

Poseidon merely regarded him coolly, he been furious at first but he was a wise god and could sense the lurking danger to Olympus and realized it was not the time for a war amongst the gods. That didn't mean he like Zeus very much. "No, I have had no children since Perseus died." He said ignoring the fact it was Zeus who killed him.

"You lie!" Zeus said but instead of Poseidon replying it was Artemis who spoke up.

"No father, I did not meet another son of Poseidon, I met Perseus." She said.

"Perseus is alive?" Poseidon said hopefully.

"Apparently so." Artemis said. "And he has grown powerful."

"Then why is he not in chains before us?" Zeus said. "You should have brought him to Olympus."

"I would have father but he was captured by monsters." Artemis said.

"Explain."

Artemis then recounted the fight. How her hunters had tracked the manticore and his forces. How the demigods had been saved by Perseus. How he had helped the hunters defeat the monsters the manticore had brought but she didn't mention how Percy had bested her instead skipping to how Perseus had been shot and then subsequently captured by the second force of monsters that had ambushed them. "And when my hunters searched the area we found no trace of the boy." She concluded.

Zeus and Poseidon looked thoughtful. "Monsters are travelling in increasingly large packs." Artemis added.

"I agree, things have been set in motion." Poseidon said. "The time of the great prophecy is drawing closer."

"If Perseus lives, could he be the child the prophecy speaks of?" Artemis asked.

"Quite possibly, but we cannot know for certain. Prophecies act in strange ways."

"Your child should not be allowed to live, the threat to Olympus is too great." Zeus said angrily.

"We cannot prevent the prophecy from happening, we can only act to move it in our favour and I'll be damned if you try to murder my child again!" Poseidon raised his voice to Zeus' idea.

Artemis felt that perhaps this meeting should end sooner rather than later. "Father, uncle, I request permission to hunt these beasts, alone."

"No my daughter, it is too dangerous." Zeus said.

"You should take the hunters with you." Poseidon stated, less opposed to the idea than Zeus.

"We are too many, I could act alone more effectively." Artemis argued, ignoring her father.

"Then only take a few. Your lieutenant, Zoe, I think her name is. She could travel with you but don't go alone. Wouldn't you agree Zeus." Poseidon said. Artemis silently thanks Poseidon for being on her side, father probably would have forbidden her otherwise.

"Very well, as long as you don't travel alone." Zeus conceded.

"Thank you." Artemis said before flashing out of the throne room to Camp Half-Blood, eager to get away from her family's problems.

Poseidon and Zeus looked at each other before finally flashing out simultaneously leaving the throne room as empty as they left it.

- Line Break -

Artemis flashed into Camp Half-Blood and was greeted by the sight of the demigods suiting up with armor and weapons. Her hunters were there as well talking quietly amongst themselves, far away from the campers.

She walked up to Chiron. "Capture the flag?" She asked him.

"Yes, and an incredibly one-sided game at that." He said.

"You have that little faith in your campers?" She asked jokingly.

"No, I was talking about your hunters."

Artemis gasped, faking surprise. "I should take offence to that!" She said dramatically waving her hands around.

"But you won't." He said.

"No, I won't."

Chiron trotted away to inform the campers and hunters of the game now that the campers had gotten their armor on. Artemis flashed into a tree close to the boundary between the two side and watch the game, eager to see her hunters beat the Camp Half-Blood demigods.

Thalia was leading the Camp Half-Blood team and had already discussed the plan with Annabeth and Clarisse. Clarisse, Thalia and the rest of the campers, minus the Apollo cabin, would spread out on the border while Annabeth used her invisibility to sneak into enemy territory and retrieve the flag. The Apollo cabin wouldn't participate in lining the border instead acting to defend the parts of the line being attacked at that moment. Thalia was pretty proud with her plan _and _she had thought it up without Annabeth's help.

She took her place on the border and waited for the hunters to attack. Her spear and shield in hand, she pace back and forth, her eyes peeled for any sign of enemy activity.

Annabeth past the border onto the hunters side of the battlefield as soon as the game started. She knew that their border defences would be stretched thin and wouldn't last long so she needed to be quick as she could retrieving the flag.

She crouched in a bush and watched 4 hunters stalk quietly towards her border. They made a tempting target but Annabeth knew she couldn't take out all 4 of them and beside, capturing the flag was more important. After they left she continued search the forest for wherever they'd put their flag.

After about 10 minutes of search Annabeth found the flag being defended by two hunters. She had to be very cautious in this part of the plan. If the hunters discovered her before she had snacked the flag it would make things very difficult so she stepped softly into the clearing and closer to the flag.

She was doing great until she heard a loud snap and looked down to see a broken twig beneath her foot. She would have slapped herself for making such a stupid mistake if she hadn't been making a mad dash to the flag. The hunters instantly notices the sound but still didn't see her, that is, until the flag started running away on it's own.

They instantly realized who had the flag and hollered for the nearby hunters to catch the thief as they ran after her themselves. Annabeth sprinted towards the boundary with the hunter's flag in her hand and the hunters themselves on her heels and she heard her teammates yelling about something or another. She realized that the hunters must had gotten her team's flag and she ran even harder, desperately trying to get across the border to her side.

Just as she was approaching the creek that marked the border between the two teams she saw Zoe, Artemis' lieutenant, running towards the creek as well. She knew instantly that she was going to lose, Zoe was a faster runner than her and she was closer as well but she kept running nonetheless. Zoe was almost at the creek when someone darted out from a bush and tackled Zoe to the ground, Annabeth renewed her effort and ran across the creek holder the hunter's flash triumphantly above her head, displayer Camp Half-Blood's victory and the end of the hunters longtime winning streak.

Thalia got off Zoe and help the hunter up. The rest of the hunters congratulated the campers on their victory and Artemis flash in beside Chiron.

"I guess you were right." She said. "You campers sure have gotten better since the last time we were here."

"Thank you, Lady Artemis." He replied. He too was very proud of Camp Half-Blood's success but he figured that there were enough Jackalopes in the world so he wisely chose to not rub it in Artemis' face, yet.

He heard a scream and instantly turn, drawing his bow in one fluid motion and pointing it at where the sound had come from. Artemis did the same and everywhere, campers and hunters alike readied their weapons. The same person who had screamed then yelled out to the rest of the camp. "It's the Oracle! It's out of the attic!"

Everyone froze in shock then chaos broke out as each of them scrambled to see the Oracle which had stopped, a wake of green mist marking where it had been. Artemis nimbly leapt towards where the Oracle was follow soon after by Chiron, Thalia, Annabeth and Zoe.

_I am the spirit of Delphi, _It spoke. _Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, Seeker, and ask._

The withered mummy had turned to where Zoe and Artemis stood. Artemis thought for a moment about what she should say and then asked the Oracle. "Where are the monsters awakened by The Great Stirring?"

The green mist the Oracle transformed to show a young boy with sea green eyes fighting through hoards of monsters, his body covered with cuts and scrapes. They looked on the scene in horror as they realized the boy in the image was the same one that had saved Artemis and the hunters. The Oracle spoke, interrupting their thoughts:

_Five shall go west to Poseidon's son,_

_The fortress stormed and war begun,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

_Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

_The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand._

The mist retreated into the Oracle's mouth and the Oracle sat down and became still, the only indication she'd walked from the attic being the looks on the faces of those present. Chiron was the first to speak.

"A quest has been issued to the goddess of the hunt!" He said to the rest of the campers and hunters who had not heard the Oracle's prophecy. If the campers could look anymore surprises than they had when the Oracle came, they did. Chiron was about to turn back and talk to Artemis about her quest when he added as an afterthought. "Oh, and will someone please take the Oracle back to the attic." He said cheerfully.

Everyone shuddered and took a step back.

- Close -

**Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed reading this then please comment below, it takes only a minute of your time but I really appreciate it. **


	3. The Earthshaker

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO or anything else I may inadvertently reference.**

**Hello! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated but I've been really busy as of late. Anyhow, enjoy this new chapter. Some Heroes of Olympus characters in it. I'm not sure if Reyna is actually Praetor but try and ignore that little part if I got it wrong. What can I say? I'm not a demigod.**

**Enjoy, R&R!**

- The Earthshaker -

Percy opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by monsters. They were inside a castle made of black marble. Percy instantly knew where he was and thought for a moment about what to do. He decided the best course of action would be to see where they were taking him, probably to their leader.

He wondered which titan it would be. He knew it would be a titan, the recent signs indicated that the titans were on the rise and only a titan would be able to have so many monsters working together.

As Percy was being carried through the castle he memorized the route they were taking, it could be very useful to know later on. They past a few statues on the way, one of Kronos, one of Krios and one of Atlas. Without his troop of monsters finding out he had also unlocked the cuffs around his wrist and ankles using the moisture in the air to push the lock in the right way. He was ready for any opportunity to escape that may arise ready to leave without knowing who was leading the monsters. In his current condition he might not be powerful enough to defeat the titan. He might be able to but if possible than he wouldn't risk it.

Percy was shocked when he was led out of the castle but still was ready to act when the giant carrying him tripped. The cuffs came off in an instant and Riptide grew from a pen into a sword in his hand. He ran to the top the the giant's head and after stabbing him he jump off letting him turn into dust as he moved to the next monster. He used Riptide to disarm a Dracanae's spear and then stab it using it's spear to stab another Dracanae nearby him while throwing Riptide into a giant's forehead and fighting only with the stolen spear.

A monster had slipped through Percy's guard and had cut a gash into his leg. Percy spun around a kick the monster before stabbing it with his spear. Another Dracanae slashed at Percy with a sword, breaking his spear. He used the spear tip to kill the Dracanae and then drew Riptide from his pocket once again plodding forwards killing every monster who got too close to Riptide.

Percy was fighting with skill and grace but he had still managed to get numerous cuts and scrapes, some of which were quite severe. Percy yelled and charged at a drakon that was making it's way towards him. The beast spat acid at Percy who leapt over it and vaulted onto the beast head stabbing it in the eye and then in the mouth when it roared in agony.

Percy was seriously mad, adrenaline rushing through him and as he fought the winds started to pick up around him leaving him at the center of his own personal hurricane.

"You're going to regret choosing to fight an Earthshaker!" He yelled, his voice carrying through the wind. With every step Percy took the ground started vibrating, unbalancing his opponents until Percy hit the ground with Riptide and a huge shockwave threw everything around him in the air. The entire mountain shook and even at Camp Half-blood, on the other side of the country they felt the tremors shaking the ground.

"What has Poseidon so angry?" Chiron said to himself assuming the only person capable of such a powerful act would be the god himself not knowing about Percy who was now on his own at the top of Mt. Othrys the remaining monster fleeing.

Percy now stood atop Mt. Othrys alone, or at least, he thought he was alone until he heard someone yelling. "Help! Somebody help me! Please!" Percy heard this and dreaded in his heart what had happened. Dark thoughts aside though, Percy knew he had to find the source of the voice and quick.

After some searching he found the person who had called out, it was a young girl looked to be struggling to hold up an invisible weight. She looked to be about Percy's age, probably around 13 or 14 years old. Her hair was streaked with grey though from the effort and she looked hungry and tired. Percy ran up to her and asked her.

"What happened? How did you come to be under the sky?"

"T-They left m-me here, they t-threatened to kill my brother unless I took it f-from A-Atlas." She answered. As he stood there, she fell onto her hands and knees and yelled out in shock as the rocky floor scraped across her skin, staining the rocks red with blood.

"Here, let me help you." Percy said a bent down to her level. He raised his hands to feel for the sky and then lifted it off the girl's shoulders, taking the burden for himself.

"Uggh!" Percy grunted as he felt the weight of the sky pressing down on him. He struggled to hold it for a few minutes but after he found a comfortable way to support it with one hand and his back he shook the shoulders of the girl who had been holding the sky before who had slumped over and was lying on the cliff taking deep breaths.

Percy shook the girl again, hoping to elicit a response of some kind but failing. He sighed and settled in to wait until the girl came to. The sky wasn't as heavy as everyone said it was, Percy found himself able to ignore the crushing weight and think about other things like how he would get the girl down from Mt. Othrys, who was the child's godly parent. The girl must have been a demigod for being able to hold up the sky for who knows how long.

Thoughts of this manner idly floated around Percy's head as he waited patiently, the sun was almost set beneath the horizon and the girl still hadn't woken. Being as impatient as he was, Percy shook the girl again, a little harder than the first two times with improved results. The girl muttered something unintelligible and then rolled over. Her eyes shot open and she slowly picked herself up from the ground. She sat up and looked at Percy, somewhat in awe of his ability to hold up the sky with so little effort.

"Thank you." She said. Percy looked into her eyes, they were the same colour, sea green.

"You're welcome." Percy said. "You must be exhausted, it takes a strong will to be able to hold up the sky."

The girl said nothing but nodded in acknowledgement of his statement.

"What's your name?" Percy asked as if they were just two people, sitting at a coffee shop instead of atop the most evil mountain on the planet.

"My name is Jasmine, daughter of Ceres."

Percy nearly dropped the sky in shock, falling onto his knees and taking several minutes to pick himself up again. When he had, he looked at her worried expression.

"Crap." He said.

"What is the matter, was it something I said?" She asked worriedly. She didn't really want to anger the person who took the sky from her, she quite liked him and wanted to repay him in whatever way she could.

"No, it's not something you said." Percy replied. "It's just something you are."

Jasmine look at him, waiting for him to elaborate on what he had said. Percy thought quite a long time about how he was going to explain as little as he could to her and hopefully not start a war.

"Jasmine, what do you know about the gods?" He asked.

"There's Jupiter, king of the gods and Juno, his wife. There's also Neptune, Minerva, Mars, Venus, Apollo, Diana, Vulcan, Vesta, Mercury and Ceres, my mother." She said.

Percy mulled this over for a moment, then he told her.

"Look into my pocket and see if you can find a drachma." He told her.

"Drachma? Those are Greek." She answered.

"Just do it."

Jasmine reached into his pockets and found two drachma. Percy concentrated and in front of the two of them, water vapour appeared and the fading light created a faint rainbow.

"Now, throw a drachma into the rainbow and say, 'O, Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Reyna at Camp Jupiter.'" Percy instructed her. Jasmine threw the drachma into the rainbow and gaped as it disappear before Percy nudged her telling her to say what he told her to, which she did and a picture of Reyna, in front of a desk with papers stacked up around it appeared.

"HEY!" Percy yelled at the picture and the two demigods watched Reyna jump up in shock, drawing her sword and pointing it at the Iris message. "Praetor Reyna, there is a demigod who will be at the base of Mt. Tam in a few hours, send some of your troops to escort her back to camp."

"Who are you? How do you know my name and how did you find out about camp?" Reyna asked. "And why are you contacting me through Arcus?" Jasmine was frozen with shock that there was a person in the rainbow so Percy was the one who replied, the question were after all, directed at him.

"Praetor Reyna, I've been to your camp many times before and while we have never spoken, your reputation precedes you. As for who I am, that is a trivial concern but who the girl you are going to be picking up is, well, she's a daughter of Ceres and is quite exhausted from holding the sky so she cannot walk to your camp, nor can I escort her there."

"The sky? That is the burden of Atlas, why was she holding it? And why can't you escort her?"

"She was threatened to take it from him, as for why I can't escort her. We're the only two people up here, she isn't carrying the sky and you're still alive so I'll leave you to figure out why I can't escort her." Percy grimaced under the weight but kept talking. "You'd better have people at the bottom of this mountain when she gets there, or you'll have incurred my anger."

"I do not fear you." Reyna said with confidence, after all, it was just one man. A boy really, why should she be afraid of him? She had a whole legion.

"You should." The confidence behind Percy's words was certainly unnerving but Reyna remain calm. Then, Percy slipped again, the weight of the sky forcing him violently onto one knee. A massive shockwave resonated through the mountain and in the IM, the demigods could see Reyna's desk shake.

"I will send some soldiers to escort her to camp." Reyna said, her facade of calm slightly fractured. She sensed that the demigod in the image before her was not one to be trifled with.

"Thank you, and good day, Praetor."

Reyna nodded and then swiped through the image. Percy turned his head to face Samantha, and told her. "You need to go down the mountain, the Roman at the base will take you someplace safe, back to their camp." Percy took one hand and will visible effort, placed it on her shoulder. She felt a chill run down her spine. "Go now, with the blessing of the sea."

Percy watched the girl walk down the cliff and then yelled after her. "Oh, and take one of the swords from the field over than ridge, you may need it." She turn and waved her acknowledgement and walked out of Percy's sight, leaving him at the place where earth and sky meet.

- Close -

**Thanks for reading! Please review, it really makes my day when I read your review, positive or no. I can't promise an update soon but hopefully the next chapter won't take quite as long as this one did.**


	4. The Hunter

**Disclaimer: PJO is on the very long list of things I don't own. If I mention anything else by accident, i's probably not owned by me either.**

**Hello! Really wanted to write another chapter of this story so here it is. It's shorter then the rest but I wanted to get this out there for you to read.**

**Enjoy, R&R!**

- The Hunter -

Artemis sat inside the Big House with Chiron in his wheelchair. She was quite shocked that the prophecy was issued to her as gods and goddesses didn't go on quests very often. She was trying to understand the prophecy with Chiron. She paced back and forth in the room in her human form while Chiron stayed where he was, watching her slowly wearing a hole in the floor.

"So the first line is _Five shall go west to Poseidon's son._ They obviously mean Percy since there are no other children of Poseidon alive currently. Then the second line is _The fortress stormed and war begun. _Since the first line says to go west, I can only assume the prophecy is talking about Mount Othrys. _And war begun._ That's not a good thing, something we do is going to start a war but with whom? Could it be _Romans_? We are going to be right next to them if we're going to Mount Othrys.

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail. _This means I can't just teleport us there since I need to find the bane of Olympus and kill it, that is after all, the ultimate purpose of the quest. _Campers and Hunters combined shall prevail._ I will have to take some of your campers as well as some of my hunters, probably two campers and two hunters. _The titan's curse must one withstand._ This is troubling, in order for someone to take the titan's curse they must do it willingly and it also means that Atlas will be free of his punishment which is important because the next line is: _And one shall perish by a parent's hand._ Zoe is a daughter of Atlas so it will be dangerous for her to go.

Oh, Chiron, is going on these quests always so difficult for your campers? If it is then they deserve more respect, this is _hard._" Artemis seemed to keep talking for ever, not ever running out of breath and when she did finally finish her monologue, Chiron looked at her with an amused glitter in his eyes.

"You need to pick your companions and get out there, the prophecy will unfold as it should." He said. "Who are you going to take?"

"I'm going to take Phoebe and Zoe as the hunters, maybe Thalia and that Annabeth girl as the campers, do you think they will mind?"

"I'm sure Thalia and Annabeth will love to come, they will be very helpful on your quest. They have gone on many before." Chiron watched Artemis stop pacing and noticed the floor looked considerably more worn in than it had when Artemis had first arrived at the Big House. "As for the stress, most campers feel nervous on their first quest. Thalia and Annabeth have a lot of experience, you can ask them anything. Well, you can ask Annabeth anything, Thalia will probably not be very helpful. It's just not her nature."

Artemis looked at him and sort of stared right past him and stood there for a bit. She then abruptly jerked herself towards the door and left yelling a thank you to Chiron for the advice as she ran to find her soon-to-be companions.

She ran to the archery range where Zoe was training one of the more junior huntresses. "Zoe, can I have a word with you in private." She called out to her lieutenant who patted the young girl she was training on the back and then walked over to where Artemis was waiting.

"Would you like to come on the quest?" Artemis asked. "You heard the prophecy and know the risk but I would still like nothing better than for you to join me."

"Yes Lady Artemis." Zoe said back. "Who else is coming? No males I hope."

"No, I'm thinking about bringing Phoebe, Annabeth and Thalia." Artemis reassured her.

"Thalia's as bad if not worse as any guy." Zoe said with destain.

"I think you're just being a sore loser." Artemis said grinning like the twelve-year-old girl she appeared to be.

"That's all nonsense, I'm a fine loser." She harrumphed indignantly and then added the last part as an afterthought.

"Okay, whatever you say. I'm going to tell the two campers, I'll leave you to inform Phoebe." Artemis said and the two parted ways, one of them walking back towards the archery field, the other heading to the cabins. Artemis walked right to the front of the Zeus cabin and knocked on the doorframe, since it lacked a door. A sleepy looking Thalia made her way to the door while hollering over the knocking. "Who the hell knocks on someone's door before no-" She stopped dead in her tracks once she saw Artemis.

"My apologies, Lady Artemis. I didn't know it was you." She hastily said and gestured for her to come inside. Artemis didn't move.

"Thalia, will you accompany me on my quest?" She asked the daughter of Zeus. Thalia looked like she had been struck with lighting.

"You want me to come with you?" She repeated Artemis' question. She didn't like the hunters, not one bit but it would be disrespectful to refuse a goddess and she would like the opportunity to repay Percy for saving her when they rescued the children of Hades. "Sure, I'll come."

"Excellent, We'll meet outside the Big House tomorrow at sunrise." Thalia groaned internally. _So much for sleeping in._ She thought to herself as Artemis stalked off to find Annabeth.

One would think a child of Athena would be at the Athena cabin but when Artemis arrived she was told by Malcolm that Annabeth was at the beach. Artemis found her feet to be sore from all the walking so she teleported to the beach making Annabeth jump up in shock. "Lady Artemis." The demigod greeted her once she had found her voice again.

"Hello Annabeth, would you accompany me on my quest?" The goddess asked.

"Definitely! It'd be an honour!" She replied happily.

"Excellent. Meet us in front of the Big House at sunrise tomorrow." Artemis said before teleporting away leaving an overly excited Annabeth to jump around the beach. She appeared outside the Artemis cabin and walked in to be greeted by the hunters who weren't out doing something. Artemis took top bunk farthest to the back and lay down to collect her thoughts. Even a day later, the shock at having a quest was just beginning to dissipate. Artemis was actually quite worried about how the quest will go, having never gone on one before. She knew though that she needed to appear confident in front of her hunters, even if she wasn't very confident herself.

Artemis lay atop her bunk for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, her quest would begin.

- Close -

**Thanks for reading! I've been getting a lot of review and PMs some saying that they want this to be a Pertemis story others saying they want it to be a Percabeth story. Vote now! I prefer reviews over PMs, guest reviews will be ignored in the vote.**


	5. Here, Kitty

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

**Hello! I've not updated in awhile and I've been really busy with school starting up again. Thalia and Annabeth's relationship is discussed more, their friendship is going to be a significant part of the story, since Annabeth wasn't kidnapped.**

**Enjoy, R&R!  
**

- Here, Kitty -

When Artemis woke the sun was still below the horizon. She looked down and saw that all her hunters were sleeping except for Zoe and Phoebe whose bunks were empty. Not wanting to wake her hunters by teleporting to in front of the Big House she quietly got up and walked out of her cabin. The bag she packed the night before was slung over her shoulder, swaying as she walked. In it was everything she anticipated needing on the quest, some ambrosia, nectar, spare bows and arrows, three tents to sleep in and a sack of drachmas.

As Artemis walked the sun began to creep above the horizon. "Trying to make me late, aren't you Apollo." Artemis said almost to herself. Whether she was being serious or not, Apollo was indeed purposefully making the sun rise quicker, having heard of Artemis' time of departure. It was not often that one was able to make Artemis late and Apollo had every intention of doing just that.

Sure enough when Artemis arrived at the Big House, Zoe, Phoebe, Annabeth and Thalia were already waiting, backpacks shouldered. Artemis' sigh was drowned out by the birds' morning song.

"My apologies for being late." She told her quest-mates.

"No apologies necessary my lady." Zoe said, ever faithful to her mistress. Thalia huffed but other than that, no one seemed to mind Artemis' tardy arrival.

"If everyone's ready then I think we should depart." Artemis said then and the quintet walked over Half-Blood hill and into the mortal world. Before crossing the border, Thalia and Annabeth looked back at their home fondly. Campers were just getting up and they could see the tiny figures wandering around between cabins. For any camper going on a quest, the possibility of never seeing Camp Half-Blood again was very probable due to their occupation and so they savored their last look before turning and catching up to the rest of the group.

Chiron had given them one of Camp Half-Blood's white vans which they all got into, with Zoe at the wheel. One of the things Artemis had never done was learn to drive so she left the task to her lieutenant who she trusted wholly to get them to their destination.

Artemis herself was still unsure of their final destination but she assumed it was going to me Mt. Tam in California so that is the direction they headed off in. Artemis rode shotgun with Phoebe, Annabeth and Thalia in the back of the van.

About half an hour into the drive, Artemis was deathly bored. She realized that she had not packed equipment for every eventuality because the drive to San Francisco would take 43 hours and there was nothing to do.

As Artemis mulled over her problems about what to do, Thalia and Annabeth, who both were aware of how long the drive would be had had the forethought to pack things to entertain themselves with. Thalia and Phoebe were playing crazy 8s while Annabeth worked on a crossword puzzle.

Awhile later, Artemis was practically pulling her hair out in boredom, stakeouts were nothing compared to this. She wondered why everyone in the back of the van was being so quiet and so she craned her head around her seat to look back at them. Annabeth, having solved all the crosswords was now working on a sudoku puzzle while Thalia was reading a book and Phoebe sketched on a drawing pad that she held in a way that restricted the two other girls in the back with her from seeing what she was drawing.

Artemis turned back to face the front of the van and gazed at the passing scenery. Just then, Annabeth spoke up. "It's lunchtime and we're in Washington, let's stop and get something to eat." Thalia and Phoebe chorused their agreement.

"Very well. Zoe, if you can find a suitable spot to get food." Artemis told her lieutenant who turned off the interstate and took them into the city for food.

A few minutes later Artemis found herself hurrying to catch up to the rest of her quest-mates who were being dragged towards the Washington Monument by Annabeth who was talking at them excitedly, blurting out facts about the famous building.

She caught up to Zoe who had wriggled free of Annabeth's clutches. "What do you call thise, Zoe?" Artemis questioned holding her hot dog out for Zoe's examination.

"I believe Thalia referred to them as as hot dogs." Zoe told the goddess. Seeing Artemis' worried face she elaborated. "They're not actually made out of dogs though, I think they're made out beef."

Artemis didn't stop gazing suspiciously at the hot dog for the rest of the stop.

They followed Annabeth into the Air and Space section of the Smithsonian, while not related to architecture, Annabeth still held a surprising amount of information about the various displays. Well, it actually wasn't surprising if you thought about it, she is a daughter of Athena, this kind of stuff is totally up her alley.

Artemis knew that the mist would stop the mortals in the museum from seeing anything revealing but she still couldn't help but notice the number of stares the strange group was attracting. She tried her hardest though to block out their attention by reading a board about one the the space missions.

At first she just skimmed through the board but the word Apollo caught her eye. Why would anyone name something after Apollo? She then started back at the beginning of the board and read it more thoroughly. She found it ironic that they would name their moon missions after her twin, who was god of the sun. _Stupid mortals._ She thought.

She looked up after a scream startled her. She quickly drew her bow and nocked an arrow while looking to see where the rest of her quest-mates were. She saw Zoe and Phoebe with their bows drawn and Thalia with her spear and shield, Aegis, out. They all seem to be looking towards the entrance of the museum and Artemis followed their gaze to see the Nemean Lion.

The lion roared loudly, shaking the room and sending mortals running. Artemis tried to get a clear shot of the beast but found it hard with all the mortals in the way. Zoe and Phoebe already had arrows in the air since they had the advantage of being on the second floor walkway of the museum. Artemis still hadn't seen Annabeth but knew that there would be time to look for the girl after they had disposed of the lion.

She jump on top of one of the airplanes close by her. The Nemean Lion saw her moved and bounded after her, ignoring the hunters' arrow that bounces harmlessly off its fur.

Artemis ran towards a hanging display, intent on getting a better shot on at the lion when she heard a roar directly behind her. She turn and brought her bow to a full draw before taking aim and shoot an arrow at the lion. She watched it bounce harmlessly off the lion's face and then realized the danger of her position and drew her hunting knives, setting into a crouch so she could spring at the lion. Her hunters continued to shoot arrows at it but none of them seemed to affect the lion at all. Both her and the lion had come to a standstill, waiting for the other to move first.

The lion lunged at Artemis but was then shoved off the airplane by Thalia who had collided with the beast, using her shield to push it off the plane. Artemis took this opportunity while the lion was momentarily stunned and jumped at it, slashing with her knives. Zoe and Phoebe had stopped firing arrow at the beast, not wanting to hit their mistress and instead were jumping down to where Thalia was using the hanging exhibits and stepping stones.

Artemis was toe-to-toe with the lion, both of them circling each other, testing their opponent with the occasional slash or swipe. The hunters were helping Thalia to stand when she let out a gasp of pain. "My arm, I think it's broken." She said, wincing as Zoe tried to remove the shield from it. Thalia used her unbroken arm to tap the bracelet on her wrist, shrinking the shield.

A loud roar caught the hunters' attention and they turned to see Artemis pinned under the Nemean Lion. They watched in horror and the lion was about to bit Artemis' head off when a celestial bronze knife appeared in its throat. The lion let out another roar, one of pain instead of victory and Artemis kicked the lion off her and threw her own knives into its gaping maw, killing the beast.

Zoe and Phoebe were helping the goddess up when a certain blonde hero took off her Yankee's hat and turned visible. The quest-mates watched the Nemean Lion's fur shrink into a vest. Artemis walked over, abet shakily, to where the vest lay in the middle of the trashed museum and picked it up but instead of putting it on she turned and handed it to Annabeth.

The blonde looked shocked but accepted the vest and put it on, thanking Artemis profoundly. One doesn't reject a gift from the gods, well, if you want to live a long life that is. Thalia, who had stayed back from her companions who were now admiring the pelt made a face that showed she disapproved of Annabeth's somewhat excessive thanks but made sure not to let Artemis see it.

Thalia's respect for the gods had diminished somewhat after having been turned back from being a tree. Things like spending an extended period of time as shrubbery can easily become eye opening experiences, as it was in Thalia's case. She didn't like the the fact that the gods treated anything that wasn't a god with disregard, she wasn't one to let people push her around or mess with her life, even if they were immortal. She was particularly opposed to Artemis' 'no male' views and being stuck with her for who knows how long really didn't endear her to the goddess any more.

She pushed her less than flattering thoughts aside and walked up to Annabeth to congratulate her and Artemis. Annabeth was the only bright spot in the whole quest. As much as Thalia was angry at the gods, namely Zeus, for turning her into a tree and cheating her out of time with Annabeth, time measured in years, she enjoy the blonde girl's company. She knew a lot of what had happened to Annabeth while she had been a tree, due to said girl talking to her about what was going on. Even if she could reply as a tree, she still knew a considerable amount about her friend.

All the questers talked amongst themselves until they heard voices outside the museum, guards probably, and decided it was time to talk their leave of Washington. Artemis snapped her fingers and teleported them all to where they had parked the Camp Half-Blood van.

The group of girls climbed in, Zoe in the driver's seat, and they continued west towards California and Thalia wonder idly if the Nemean Lion would have made a good burger.

Hopefully she wouldn't find out in this lifetime.

- Close -

**Thanks for reading! Please review if you enjoyed it, or if you didn't then tell me what you didn't like so I can do better. Voting is still up for the pairing here, it could be either Percabeth or Pertamis so vote! No guest reviews will be counted in the vote but guest please review anyways!**


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